andybassdoyle

All, I've no affiliation with this person but a stolen basschat.co.uk is never good news, please keep your eyes open... https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152295874271571&id=730871570&comment_id=10152295874591571&ref=m_notif&notif_t=comment_mention&actorid=730871570

Janek is a great guy to deal with. He's a good communicator and replies promptly which I always feel helps any trades go smoothly. I've just bought his mayones fretless from him and whilst UPS messed us around a little I never had any concerns about the outcome of the deal. The bass arrived in immaculate condition, first class packing. Janek is also very generous with his time sharing info about his bass playing experiences. Overall an asset to the forum and another BCer how you can confidently deal with.

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1413211760' post='2575858'] Maybe you need to stop obsessing about trying to find a perfect solution and simply enjoy playing what you do have access to. [/quote] Ok guys, I get the message, only asked the question!

Folks thanks for the feedback. Obviously this is a really subjective issue but lot's of useful food for thought here.

Good advice and I suspect very close to the truth. Any other schools of thought folks?

Very interested to hear the BC thoughts on this, I'm sure many of you are in or have been in this boat. Simply put, is it worth selling up the collection in order to fund one high quality instrument? I find myself with the dilema of trying lot's of different basses all with their own qualities but never finding that one bass that hits the 8 or 9 out of 10 mark consistently on all fronts. Some of the sorts of choices that need to be made are: 1) Fretted or frettless - this of all the choices is probably easiest as you can't really have one bass that does both for obvious reasons 2) B string - good for general/function work. Wider neck reduces playabilty, more bass to get around. Seems to 'ground' the tone where present. 3) C string - good for improvisation, chords etc. Not widely desired but the non-bass playing world in general. Same neck issues as point 2. Doesn't always work on a 5 string. 4) 6 or more strings - see 2 and 3. 5) Wood choices - does it really all boil down to ash/maple? The exotics look great but does it really make difference from the back of the bar? 6) Pickups/electrics etc - black magic and probably influenced by other factors. Keep it flat and clean or is there a good colour to go for? 7) Scale length - how do you know that a 33 is going to work well? Are there any 35s that are genuinely comfortable to play or is it the simple truth that 34 is the best scale length for bass (provocative perhaps!) I think a key thing for me is that the bass responds and resonates really well to being played. This might sound a bit daft but there are some instruments which just seem for whatever reason to invite you to play them and this usually translates for me into better tone and performance. I suspect the quality of the set up, frets and neck have a lot to do with this. More mysterious X factors. What makes the bass that you instinctively choose to use whatever the circumstances? I've met people over the years who will say get a custom bass made. Sounds like a good idea but I've no idea what ingrediants to tell the chef to buy. I've also no desire to let my mind change itself over the 12-24 months most of these builds seem to take. I suspect that the answer to this question is that there is no one bass to rule them all and that some form of bass coalition needs to be formed in order to succesfully govern all gigs. Question is probably more around who gets to be PM.... Interested in your thoughts BC folk!! Cheers, Abd